Another National Football League season is upon us and still nobody has found a way to keep Brett Favre and Terrell Owens off a football field. ¶ Owens has resurfaced more times than Bryant Gumbel, and his latest landing has him occupying a starting receiving spot in Cincinnati with the Bengals, who didn't want him the first time they thought about signing the truculent wide receiver.

That was back in March when the Bengals opted to sign another unrestricted free agent, Antonio Bryant, the former Pitt receiver, who is not exactly known around the league as a good locker room guy. Even more surprising, the Bengals signed Bryant to a four-year, $28 million contract, an amount nearly as large as the ego of his new receiving partner, Chad Ochocinco.

But, for some reason, Bengals president Mike Brown decided he couldn't resist the temptation of also having T.O. as a receiving option for quarterback Carson Palmer. So he signed Owens, thrusting Palmer into the role of ringleader of the circus, and eventually cut Bryant before he even played a down with the Bengals.

Before we proceed any further, remember that the Bengals, the defending AFC North champions, have never had back-to-back winning seasons in seven years under coach Marvin Lewis. With decision-making like that, one can see why.

What else to watch for in the NFL in 2010, if you can manage to take your eyes off T.O.:

The Minnesota Vikings might have the best 53-man roster in the NFL, and they keep thinking the man to lead them to the Super Bowl is Favre, who elected to return for a second season because he grew tired of doing jeans commercials. Favre put up unfathomable numbers last season for a 40-year-old quarterback -- 4,202 yards, 33 touchdowns, 68.4 completion percentage -- but he also showed a profound tendency to throw a big interception at the wrong time in the postseason.

It's tough to criticize the bombastic approach preferred by New York Jets coach Rex Ryan, the Don Cherry of his profession. He is brash, bold and refreshingly candid, and his players respond to his verbal pronouncements. He also added players such as LaDainian Tomlinson, Santonio Holmes and Antonio Cromartie to an already talented roster.

The Arizona Cardinals will quickly discover what life will be like without their veteran quarterback, Kurt Warner, who retired after the 2009 season. The heir apparent, Matt Leinart, was released last week because the Cardinals players didn't believe they could win with Leinart. So they get Derek Anderson, who, in Cleveland, learned all about supplanting No. 1 draft picks at quarterback.

The Super Bowl champion might come out of the NFC North this season, but it won't be the Vikings. Aaron Rodgers was sensational last season, passing for 4,434 yards and 30 TDs with only seven picks. If Dom Capers can get his young defense to play the 3-4 the way it was intended, Green Bay has a chance to do what New Orleans did in '09 -- surprise the NFL.

Unfortunately for the best quarterback in the league, he has more MVPs (4) than Super Bowl victories (1). Manning won't have Tom Moore as his offensive coordinator anymore but he should have a ninth consecutive playoff appearance and, well, who knows.

It's never a surprise when Daniel Snyder spends the offseason loading up on big-name acquisitions. This time, though, the new faces are at the two most important positions -- head coach (Mike Shanahan) and quarterback (Donovan McNabb). It's the strongest coach-quarterback combo in the nation's capital since Gibbs-Theismann.

A hangover in New Orleans? C'mon. Maybe the Saints should have spent part of their preseason training chatting with the Steelers, who count twice among the five Super Bowl winners in the past 10 years who failed to make the playoffs the following season. If that doesn't work, try pickle juice. Good for hangovers.

The Dallas Cowboys should really have no problems winning the NFC East again. Of greater significance is whether they can become the first team in NFL history to play in the Super Bowl in their own stadium. Or if they can forget last year's playoff embarrassment in Minnesota.

Ed Bouchette's blog on the Steelers and Gerry Dulac's Steelers chats are featured exclusively on PG+, a members-only web site from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.